scholarly journals Monitoring Track Transition Zones in Railways

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Roberto Sañudo ◽  
Ignacio Jardí ◽  
José-Conrado Martínez ◽  
Francisco-Javier Sánchez ◽  
Marina Miranda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Field Analysis ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
Slab Track ◽  
The North ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Ballast Track ◽  
Vertical Accelerations ◽  
North Of Spain

This manuscript presents the first measurement program and data collection on the Dinatrans track transition solution after it was installed in a track section in the north of Spain (Galicia). The Dinatrans solution was created to address the limitations of several track transition solutions. This novel solution consists of two inner and outer rails from slab track to ballast track, pads with different stiffness over sleepers of variable lengths installed from ballast track to slab track, and a simple substructure formed by non-structural concrete poured over the natural ground. The main objective of this research was to assess the suitability and the initial performance of the Dinatrans track transition solution. The measured variables for these initial real-world tests were vertical accelerations on sleepers, shear stress on rails, vertical displacements on rails and vertical displacements on sleepers. All measurements of these variables were obtained in an in-situ program by installing vertical accelerometers and LVDTs on the track structure and extensometer gauges on the rails and sleepers. The methodology and the procedures followed are described. The Dinatrans initial solution was compared with the Standard solution used in Spain using these initial measurements. This field analysis provides an initial understanding of the performance of the new track transition. Further measurements will be required to check the track transition performance over the long term; however, no maintenance works have been necessary since construction (2016).

Ecological Distribution, Agricultural Trade Liberalization, and IN SITU Genetic Diversity

1997 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Boyce
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Rural Livelihoods ◽  
Agricultural Trade ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
The North ◽  
Agricultural Trade Liberalization ◽  
Agricultural Imports ◽  
World Food Security

Genetic diversity in crop plants is crucial for long-term world food security. This diversity is sustained in the field primarily by poor farmers in developing countries, who receive no compensation for providing this external benefit to humankind. When agricultural imports displace local production in centers of genetic diversity, this threatens both rural livelihoods and the continued provision of this external benefit. The North American Free Trade Agreement’s impact on Mexican maize farming illustrates the problem. The prospects for remedial policies are shaped by the distribution of the costs and benefits of action of inaction.

scholarly journals Impact of Long-Term Reclaimed Water Irrigation on the Distribution of Potentially Toxic Elements in Soil: An In-Situ Experiment Study in the North China Plain

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomin Gu ◽  
Yong Xiao ◽  
Shiyang Yin ◽  
Honglu Liu ◽  
Baohui Men ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Toxic Elements ◽  
Reclaimed Water ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Potentially Toxic Elements ◽  
In Situ Experiment ◽  
The North ◽  
Reclaimed Water Irrigation

The widespread use of reclaimed water has alleviated the water resource crisis worldwide, but long-term use of reclaimed water for irrigation, especially in agricultural countries, might threaten the soil environment and further affect groundwater quality. An in-situ experiment had been carried out in the North China Plain, which aimed to reveal the impact of long-term reclaimed water irrigation on soil properties and distribution of potentially toxic elements (As, Cd, Cr, Hg, Zn and Pb) in the soil profile as well as shallow groundwater. Four land plots were irrigated with different quantity of reclaimed water to represent 0, 13, 22 and 35 years’ irrigation duration. Pollution Load Index (PLI) values of each soil layer were calculated to further assess the pollution status of irrigated soils by potentially toxic elements (PTEs). Results showed that long-term reclaimed water irrigation caused appreciable increase of organic matter content, and might improve the soil quality. High soil organic matter concentrations conduced to high adsorption and retention capacity of the soils toward PTEs, which could reduce the risk of PTEs leaching into deep layers or shallow groundwater. Highest levels of Cr, Pb and Zn were observed at 200–240 cm and 460–500 cm horizons in plots. Longer irrigation time (35 years and 22 years) resulted in a decreasing trend of As, Cd, Hg, Pb and Zn in lower part of soil profiles (>540 cm) compared with that with 13-years’ irrigation years. Long-term reclaimed water irrigation still brought about increases in concentrations of some elements in deep soil layer although their content in soils and shallow groundwater was below the national standard. Totally speaking, proper management for reclaimed water irrigation, such as reduction of irrigation volume and rate of reclaimed water, was still needed when a very long irrigation period was performed.

scholarly journals Comparison of in situ time-series of temperature with gridded sea surface temperature datasets in the North Atlantic

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1467-1479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah L. Hughes ◽  
N. Penny Holliday ◽  
Eugene Colbourne ◽  
Vladimir Ozhigin ◽  
Hedinn Valdimarsson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Sea Surface Temperature ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
The North Atlantic

Abstract Hughes, S. L., Holliday, N. P., Colbourne, E., Ozhigin, V., Valdimarsson, H., Østerhus, S., and Wiltshire, K. 2009. Comparison of in situ time-series of temperature with gridded sea surface temperature datasets in the North Atlantic. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 66: 1467–1479. Analysis of the effects of climate variability and climate change on the marine ecosystem is difficult in regions where long-term observations of ocean temperature are sparse or unavailable. Gridded sea surface temperature (SST) products, based on a combination of satellite and in situ observations, can be used to examine variability and long-term trends because they provide better spatial coverage than the limited sets of long in situ time-series. SST data from three gridded products (Reynolds/NCEP OISST.v2., Reynolds ERSST.v3, and the Hadley Centre HadISST1) are compared with long time-series of in situ measurements from ICES standard sections in the North Atlantic and Nordic Seas. The variability and trends derived from the two data sources are examined, and the usefulness of the products as a proxy for subsurface conditions is discussed.

scholarly journals Long-term continuous atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> measurements at Baring Head, New Zealand

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 3109-3117 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Brailsford ◽  
B. B. Stephens ◽  
A. J. Gomez ◽  
K. Riedel ◽  
S. E. Mikaloff Fletcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
The North ◽  
Low Co2 ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2 ◽  
Instrumental Precision

Abstract. We present descriptions of the in situ instrumentation, calibration procedures, intercomparison efforts, and data filtering methods used in a 39-yr record of continuous atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) observations made at Baring Head, New Zealand. Located on the southern coast of the North Island, Baring Head is exposed to extended periods of strong air flow from the south with minimal terrestrial influence resulting in low CO2 variability. The site is therefore well suited for sampling air masses that are representative of the Southern Ocean region. Instrumental precision is better than 0.015 ppm (1-σ) on 1-Hz values. Comparisons to over 600 co-located flask samples, as well as laboratory based flask and cylinder comparison exercises, suggest that over recent decades compatibility with respect to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) CO2 scales has been 0.3 ppm or better.

MORPHODYNAMICS OF THE SHORES OF THE VISTULA SPIT (THE BALTIC SEA) IN A PERIOD OF 2002-2015 BY RESULTS OF IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Bobykina ◽  
Valentina Bobykina ◽  
Boris Chubarenko ◽  
Boris Chubarenko ◽  
Konstantin Karmanov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Erosion Rate ◽  
The South ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
The North ◽  
Quantitative Characteristics ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
First Time

For the first time, the quantitative characteristics of the Vistula Spit shore dynamics based on the ground-based monitoring data for 2002-2015 were presented. On the sea shore, 3 sections can be distinguished by the direction of coastal processes, i.e. the stable section to the north of the Strait of Baltiysk, the eroded 4-km section to the south of the Strait of Baltiysk, with maximum erosion rate up to 2 m/year; in the remaining area of the Spit (21 km) to the Polish border there is an alternation of stable, eroded and accumulative areas. Since 2011, a steady erosion (in the stable segments of the third section) and general weakening of the erosion rate (in the second section) have been recorded. 50% of the length of the lagoon shore was the subject to annual active erosion (0.2 - 1.4 m/year). The beaches of the sea and lagoon shores of the Vistula Spit were mainly composed of medium sands. The alongshore variability in particle size distribution on the sea and lagoon shores (according to the 2015 survey data) actually fail to correlate with long-term dynamic processes, with the exception of the steadily eroded 4-kilometer area on the sea coast to the south of the Strait of Baltiysk. Variations in the composition of sediment along the shore on the shoreline are most likely associated with the results of the latest wave processing (or storm processing and eolian transport in the case of an average beach sample).

Coastal Sea Level Change from in the North Eastern Atlantic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciana Fenoglio-Marc ◽  
Bernd Uebbing ◽  
Jürgen Kusche ◽  
Salvatore Dinardo
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Sea Level Change ◽  
Altimeter Data ◽  
Level Change ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Coastal Sea

&lt;p&gt;A significant part of the World population lives in the coastal zone, which is affected by coastal sea level rise and extreme events. Our hypothesis is that the most accurate sea level height measurements are derived from the&amp;#160;Synthetic Aperture Altimetry (SAR) mode. This study analyses the output of dedicated processing and assesses their impacts on the sea level change of the North-Eastern Atlantic.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It will be shown that SAR altimetry reduces the minimum usable distance from five to three kilometres when the dedicated coastal retrackers SAMOSA+ and SAMOSA++ are applied to data processed in SAR mode. A similar performance is achieved with altimeter data processed in pseudo low resolution mode (PLRM) when the Spatio-Temporal Altimeter sub-waveform Retracker (STAR) is used. Instead the Adaptive Leading Edge Sub-waveform retracker (TALES) applied to PLRM is less performant.&amp;#160;SAR processed altimetry can recover the sea level heights with 4 cm accuracy up to 3-4 km distance to coast. Thanks to the low noise of SAR mode data, the instantaneous SAR and in-situ data have the highest agreement, with the smallest standard deviation of differences and the highest correlation.&amp;#160;A co-location of the altimeter data near the tide gauge is the best choice for merging in-situ and altimeter data. The r.m.s. (root mean squared) differences between altimetry and in-situ heights remain large in estuaries and in coastal zone with high tidal regimes, which are still challenging regions.&amp;#160;The geophysical parameters derived from CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3A measurements have similar accuracy, but the different repeat cycle of the two missions locally affects the constructed time-series.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The impact of these new SAR observations in climate change studies is assessed by evaluating regional and local time series of sea level. At distances to coast smaller than 10 Kilometers the sea level change derived from SAR and LRM data is in good agreement. The long-term sea level variability derived from monthly time-series of LRM altimetry and of land motion-corrected tide gauges agrees within 1 mm/yr for half of in-situ German stations.&amp;#160;The long-term sea level variability derived from SAR data show a similar behaviour with increasing length of the time series.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Influence of topography and human activity on erosion in Yunnan, SW China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda H. Schmidt ◽  
Thomas B. Neilson ◽  
Paul R. Bierman ◽  
Dylan H. Rood ◽  
William B. Ouimet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
River Sediment ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Erosion Rates ◽  
The North ◽  
Small Watersheds ◽  
Basin Area

Abstract. In order to understand better if and where long-term erosion rates calculated using in situ 10Be are affected by contemporary changes in land use and attendant deep regolith erosion, we calculated erosion rates using measurements of in situ 10Be in quartz from 52 samples of river sediment collected from three tributaries of the Mekong River (median basin area = 46.5 km2). Erosion rates range from 12–209 mm/kyr with an area-weighted mean of 117 ± 49 mm/kyr (1 standard deviation) and median of 74 mm/kyr. We observed a decrease in the relative influence of human activity from our steepest and least altered watershed in the north to the most heavily altered landscapes in the south. In the areas of the landscape least disturbed by humans, erosion rates correlate best with measures of topographic steepness. In the most heavily altered landscapes, measures of modern land use correlate with 10Be-estimated erosions rates but topographic steepness parameters cease to correlate with erosion rates. We conclude that in some small watersheds we sampled, those with high rates and intensity of agricultural land use, that tillage and resultant erosion has excavated deeply enough into the regolith to deliver subsurface sediment to streams and thus raise apparent in situ 10Be-derived erosion rates by as much as 2.5 times over background rates had the watersheds not been disturbed.

scholarly journals The International Soil Moisture Network: a data hosting facility for global in situ soil moisture measurements

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1609-1663 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. A. Dorigo ◽  
W. Wagner ◽  
R. Hohensinn ◽  
S. Hahn ◽  
C. Paulik ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Water Cycle ◽  
Soil Moisture Data ◽  
The North ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Different Depths ◽  
Operational Networks

Abstract. In situ measurements of soil moisture are invaluable for calibrating and validating land surface models and satellite-based soil moisture retrievals. In addition, long-term time series of in situ soil moisture measurements themselves can reveal trends in the water cycle related to climate or land cover change. Nevertheless, on a worldwide basis the number of meteorological networks and stations measuring soil moisture, in particular on a continuous basis, is still limited and the data they provide lack standardization of technique and protocol. To overcome many of these limitations, the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN; http://www.ipf.tuwien.ac.at/insitu) was initiated to serve as a centralized data hosting facility where globally available in situ soil moisture measurements from operational networks and validation campaigns are collected, harmonized, and made available to users. Data collecting networks share their soil moisture datasets with the ISMN on a voluntary and no-cost basis. Incoming soil moisture data are automatically transformed into common volumetric soil moisture units and checked for outliers and implausible values. Apart from soil water measurements from different depths, important metadata and meteorological variables (e.g., precipitation and soil temperature) are stored in the database. These will assist the user in correctly interpreting the soil moisture data. The database is queried through a graphical user interface while output of data selected for download is provided according to common standards for data and metadata. Currently (status January 2011), the ISMN contains data of 16 networks and more than 500 stations located in the North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The time period spanned by the entire database runs from 1952 until the present, although most datasets have originated during the last decade. The database is rapidly expanding, which means that both the number of stations and the time period covered by the existing stations are still growing. Hence, it will become an increasingly important resource for validating and improving satellite-derived soil moisture products and studying climate related trends. As the ISMN is animated by the scientific community itself, we invite potential networks to enrich the collection by sharing their in situ soil moisture data.

scholarly journals Ice-supersaturated air masses in the northern mid-latitudes from regular in situ observations by passenger aircraft: vertical distribution, seasonality and tropospheric fingerprint

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (13) ◽  
pp. 8157-8179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Petzold ◽  
Patrick Neis ◽  
Mihal Rütimann ◽  
Susanne Rohs ◽  
Florian Berkes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Occurrence Probability ◽  
European Regions ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
The North ◽  
In Situ Observations ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Passenger Aircraft

Abstract. The vertical distribution and seasonal variation of water vapour volume mixing ratio (H2O VMR), of relative humidity with respect to ice (RHice) and particularly of regions with ice-supersaturated air masses (ISSRs) in the extratropical upper troposphere and lowermost stratosphere are investigated at northern mid-latitudes over the eastern North American, North Atlantic and European regions for the period 1995 to 2010. Observation data originate from regular and continuous long-term measurements on board instrumented passenger aircraft in the framework of the European research programme MOZAIC (1994–2010), which continues as the European research infrastructure IAGOS (from 2011). Data used in our study result from collocated observations of O3 VMR, RHice and temperature, as well as H2O VMR deduced from RHice and temperature data. The in situ observations of H2O VMR and RHice with a vertical resolution of 30 hPa (< 750 m at the extratropical tropopause level) and a horizontal resolution of 1 km resolve detailed features of the distribution of water vapour and ice-supersaturated air relative to the thermal tropopause, including their seasonal and regional variability and chemical signatures at various distances from the tropopause layer. Annual cycles of the investigated properties document the highest H2O VMR and temperatures above the thermal tropopause in the summer months, whereas RHice above the thermal tropopause remains almost constant in the course of the year. Over all investigated regions, upper tropospheric air masses close to the tropopause level are nearly saturated with respect to ice and contain a significant fraction of ISSRs with a distinct seasonal cycle of minimum values in summer (30 % over the ocean, 20 %–25 % over land) and maximum values in late winter (35 %–40 % over both land and ocean). Above the thermal tropopause, ISSRs are occasionally observed with an occurrence probability of 1.5 ± 1.1 %, whereas above the dynamical tropopause at 2 PVU (PVU: potential vorticity unit), the occurrence probability increases 4-fold to 8.4 ± 4.4 %. In both coordinate systems related to tropopause height (TPH), the ISSR occurrence probabilities drop to values below 1 % for the next higher air mass layer with pressure levels p < pTPH−15 hPa. For both tropopause definitions, the tropospheric nature or fingerprint, based on O3 VMR, indicates the continuing tropospheric influence on ISSRs inside and above the respective tropopause layer. For the non-ISSRs, however, the stratospheric nature is clearly visible above the thermal tropopause, whereas above the dynamical tropopause the air masses show a still substantial tropospheric influence. For all three regions, seasonal deviations from the long-term annual cycle of ISSR occurrence show no significant trends over the observation period of 15 years, whereas a statistically significant correlation between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and the deviation of ISSR occurrence from the long-term average is observed for the North Atlantic region but not for the eastern North American and European regions.

Long-term monitoring of coastal saltwater intrusion using the geoelectrical monitoring system SAMOS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Grinat ◽  
Mathias Ronczka ◽  
Thomas Günther ◽  
Dieter Epping ◽  
Vitali Kipke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Recharge ◽  
Monitoring System ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Groundwater System ◽  
Transition Zones ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Local Water

&lt;p&gt;Efficient groundwater management is the key to a sustainable use of freshwater aquifers. In the coastal areas worldwide, saltwater intrusions caused by sea-level rise, overuse of freshwater resources and changing groundwater recharge is a major threat to the availability of freshwater. A reduced groundwater recharge combined with an increased extraction can lead to vertical upconing or lateral movement of the freshwater-saltwater transition zones, therefore reducing the local freshwater resources. Long-term and continuous observation of the freshwater-saltwater transition zones is crucial to implement early warning procedures, yields more detailed insight into the groundwater system and therefore enables early adjustment and adaptation of extraction rates if needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The SAltwater MOnitoring System (SAMOS) consists of two main parts: a vertical electrode chain of steel ring electrodes permanently installed in a backfilled borehole and a measuring system at the surface. The number of electrodes (commonly about 80) and distance between adjacent electrodes (commonly about 25 cm) is generally flexible. The chain of electrodes is connected to a lightweight and small resistivity meter (LGM, 4-Point light 10W). Thanks to the maximum output current of 100 mA and a voltage of 380 V a low power consumption is achieved and long-term and autonomous monitoring is enabled by solar panel based power supply. Furthermore, the system is designed to run predefined measurement protocols and transfers the data to a remote server immediately after a measurement is performed. SAMOS is commonly installed in the transition zone between fresh- and saltwater allowing the detection of very slight resistivity changes (less than 1 Ohmmeter). While first systems were completely manufactured by LIAG, the latest subsurface systems were built by Solexperts which allowed us to include temperature sensors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We present data from four SAMOS systems currently running at different locations. Two of them are installed in the central part of the freshwater lense of the North Sea island Borkum (in cooperation with Stadtwerke Borkum) in depths between 44 m and 65 m below the surface, close to freshwater wells of the local water supplier, thus monitoring the overall groundwater system and delivering data since 2009. Even though measurements immediately after the installation are disturbed by the drilling process and an adjustment to undisturbed natural conditions is observed, adapted inversion schemes allow to use all data. While in most cases only slight resistivity changes are observed up to now, at some depths larger seasonal resistivity changes occur at one Borkum site that can mostly be explained by changes of the groundwater recharge rate and changing pumping activities in a water catchment area. Two further systems have been installed in 2018 and 2020. One is located behind the dune line at the edge of the freshwater lense on the North Sea island Spiekeroog. In cooperation with the local water supply company OOWV (Oldenburg-Ostfriesischer Wasserverband) another system for their groundwater extraction fields is installed near Jever several kilometers from the coast-line used for early warning.&lt;/p&gt;

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